Ours is a comforting vegetarian and vegan-friendly recipe inspired by Eastern Mediterranean cooking and made with simple ingredients and spices such as olive oil, onion, garlic, and cumin.
Spinach stew video
Ingredients for spinach stew
Instructions
Serving suggestions
Storage
More chickpea ideas
This dish is popular in many countries, especially in Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. For the recipe, we drew inspiration from Palestinian “Sabanekh bil hummus”, a wonderful combination of fresh spinach, tender chickpeas, and fragrant spices. This spinach stew is excellent with rice or warm pita bread for a meat-free lunch or dinner. It’s also a great recipe for meal prep as its flavor gets better the next day as the ingredients have time to meld. We were so impressed by this recipe because it’s really easy to make, and it tastes incredible! Let’s see how to make it. We use the oil to make the flavor base with onion, garlic, and spices and infuse the recipe with a beautiful round, fragrant, and warm flavor.
Onion
Use white or yellow onion; chopped coarsely. When gently fried with oil, onion adds a wonderful flavor to the stew.
Garlic
Fresh garlic is a must here. Press it, grate it, or mince it with a knife, then gently fry it with the onion without burning it.
Cumin and coriander
Ground cumin and coriander are lovely with chickpeas and spinach; we recommend adding both.
Vegetable broth
Pick your favorite vegetable broth. You can use a regular one or a reduced sodium one. You can even make vegetable stock yourself if you have the time.
Chickpeas
Canned chickpeas are excellent if you are short on time. Just drain them and rinse them under cold water. Alternatively, go for dry chickpeas that you first boil in plenty of lightly salted water for one to two hours or until tender.
Spinach
You can use fresh spinach or frozen spinach. Substitute spinach with kale or Swiss chard.
Salt and pepper
Lemon
Serve the spinach stew with lemon wedges to squeeze on top right before eating. The acidity of the lemon juice will freshen up and boost the flavors of this dish.
Pine nuts
Pine nuts are optional but are used often in Eastern Mediterranean cooking, so we like to add them on top of the stew to add a delicious nutty flavor. Toast the pine nuts for a few minutes on a nonstick pan until they turn golden brown.
Rice
We usually serve the stew with boiled rice. You can use white or brown basmati rice. Substitute warm pita bread (or any other bread) for rice.
Yogurt
Optionally, you can top the stew with plain, Greek, or non-dairy yogurt. Even better, top it with a creamy and tasty yogurt tahini sauce. Add pressed or grated garlic, ground cumin, and ground coriander, and fry for one more minute or until you smell the spices’ fragrant aroma. Add the rinsed and drained chickpeas, salt, and black pepper, give it a quick stir, then add vegetable broth and spinach. You might not be able to add all the spinach at the same time. Let them wilt for a minute if that’s the case, then add the rest. Cover with a lid, bring to a boil, lower the heat, crack the top open, and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt, then serve on boiled rice topped with toasted pine nuts and a squeeze of lemon juice. Tip: you can toast the pine nuts on a non-stick pan on medium-low heat for 1 minute or until golden brown. Optionally, top it with plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, or non-dairy yogurt, or try a dollop of our yogurt tahini sauce.
Fattoush (pita bread, cucumber, tomato, romaine lettuce, radish, bell pepper, etc.) Tabbouleh (parsley, tomato, bulgur, scallion, mint leaves, lemon juice, etc.) Shirazi (cucumber, tomato, white onion, dried mint, lime juice, etc.) Tomato cucumber salad (tomato, cucumber, red onion, olive oil, basil leaves, etc.)
Tabouli (Tabbouleh)
Yogurt Tahini Sauce
Shirazi Salad
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Refrigerator: keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freezer: let the stew cool down completely, then transfer it to a freezer-friendly container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw slowly in the fridge or the microwave. Reheat: warm up the spinach stew in the microwave or stovetop.
More stews and soups
Get more wholesome and comforting stew inspiration with these vegetable–packed favorites:
Chickpea stew or Moroccan chickpea stew with Mediterranean flavors. Vegetable stew with roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, and cumin-infused broth. Italian bean stew (pinto beans, celery, onion, carrot, canned tomatoes, parsley, etc.) Tuscan bean soup (white beans, kale, cabbage, carrot, onion, garlic, vegetable broth, etc.) Lentil vegetable soup (lentils, spinach, potato, carrot, onion, garlic, cumin, etc.)
Vegetable stew
Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Tuscan Bean Stew
Lentil Vegetable Soup
Chickpea soup (canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, chickpeas, potatoes, etc.) Pasta e ceci (ditalini pasta, chickpeas, canned tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, etc.) Chickpea curry (coconut milk, white onion, coriander, cumin, curry, etc.) Easy chickpea salad (cherry tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, corn, parsley, etc.) Chickpea curry (coconut milk, chickpeas, turmeric, curry, coriander, parsley, etc.) Curry chickpea salad (tahini, chickpeas, mango, pickled, etc.) Stuffed tomatoes (spinach, chickpeas, onions, broth, yogurt, etc.)
For many more dinner ideas, check out our mains category page.
Chickpea Soup
Chickpea Curry
Chickpea Salad
Curry chickpea salad
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30 Vegetarian Recipes
30 Easy Soup Recipes
40 Chickpea Recipes (easy meals)
